Session Seven- Stab-man

As you disembark the ship, afternoon stretches on. Corian waves goodbye, and then turns to make preparations to leave again- he’s a smuggler, remember; he probably isn’t real welcome in this town.

You stand on the docks. Majestic buildings tower over the rest of the city, though even the shortest building is two floors high. Verdant orchards and parks dot the cityscape, and a few mysterious ancient walls and towers jut from various sections of the city. The docks are bustling with people and ringing with clamor. A little ways away, the main street of the town stretches toward the castle, and shops line either side.

Quickly kneeling to look at the cobbles, Moth found 1 gold Lira. No plants, though (too much foot traffic).

As you enter the city, you hear shouting from your right. A young Scáthen girl- perhaps in her early teens- cowers before a rather grungy human. While her face and hair are pale white, her ears, neck, and shoulders are coal black. Anything more is covered by her tattered shirt, pants, and vest. The human is backed up by three other thugs.

“You stole my money, you thieving Pattern!” shouts the human.

“Did not!”

“Then how come there’s none in my pouch??”

“You spent it all on beer,” she says, wrinkling her nose, “I can smell it!”

“Think you’re so smart, huh? I’m getting my cash back now!”

He moves toward her, and his men lift their clubs. The girl flinches.

Ixyldir swings at the head thug with his staff, but misses.

“Oi, mister really big and mean, you’re quick…”

*moth tackles the guy*

Yikes, he sidesteps. Moth hits the ground and skids.

Ixyldir: *watches Moth while hastily flipping through his book*

Astra backs up, feeling too small to attack physically without risking being taken hostage and hurting the party as a whole, she begins to cast the spell Sleep.

The three backup thugs fall asleep almost instantly, crumpling to the ground. The leader of the group staggers, then shakes his head and is fine.

Vin: Yay, you left one for me!

She lunges and strikes. The head thug steps back after the attack, then hefts his club. He swings, but swivels too far and the club glances off Ixy’s staff.

Ixyldir: And now I Entangle!!

You seem to have found a favorite spell…

Maybe cause it’s one of two I know. I should look into that

Alright. So the guy’ll have to succeed on a Strength check to stay unaffected. roll d20, and…

what. the. hells? 18? What is this guy???

Okay, well, he breaks the vines pretty easily.

Ixyldir: I think we’ve stumbled on more than just the common thug

Moth swings his rapier, biting deep into the street-thug’s shoulder. The man staggers backward, both hands trying to stop the bleeding, and collapses against a wall. He’s still alive, but definitely incapacitated.

Moth *punches the guy in the head to make sure he’s out and starts looting his body.*

Ixyldir: Well. That was exhilarating, and violent

“Thank you!” says the girl. Now that you’re closer, you can see she’s probably around thirteen. “That man, Rhugar, and his gang have it out for my people. We are still uncommon in the cities, and many people fear what is new. I’m afraid he may have been robbed by a Scáthen, actually. The city is rubbing off on us more than we are on it…

Sorry, I ought to introduce myself. I am of family Lahti. However… my friends call me Trick. If you ever need anything in this city, I’d be glad to help.” She gestures to the west. “I live that way, near the Old Fountain.”

The girl, Trick, grins. “It’s okay. My brother acts the same way.” She looks up at the sky. “Oh, no! I’ll be late!” She runs off down the street.

Vin kicks Moth, sort-of gently (but not really). “Shame on you!”

*Moth wakes up. Promptly takes his pipe out of his pack and stuffs some small bits of moss he found in the cracks of the pavement into it and lights it.*

Ixyldir: And why did I bother waking him up?

Vin shakes her head and starts walking down the street.

Ixy: follows

Astra also follows the others

*Moth runs ahead of the others down the street trying to find somewhere to eat*

Alright. As you all walk down the street, a Halfling in church white sees Ixyldir.

???: “Ah! A fellow churchman! Tell me, are you going to the funeral today?”

Ixyldir: Well no, I’m just in town, I haven’t heard anything, what’s the significance?

???: “Ah, new to the city? Well, the head of the local church has died of old age. They’re holding his funeral today, as well as appointing the new high priest. I’ve heard even the Queen will attend! If you come, I’m sure my church brothers will be happy to put you and your friends up for free while you’re in town. My name’s Milo Tealeaf, by the way.”

Ixyldir: What a gracious offer, I’d be happy to take you up on it, if you don’t mind dealing with that brute *points at Moth down the street*

Vin grins. “He’s not too bad, don’t worry.” She turns to Ixyldir. “What’s a church like? I’ve never seen one.”

Ixy: Well, they come in all shapes and sizes, I’m not acquainted with the one in this city.

Vin nods. “Okay. Astra, what do you think?”

Astra: “Hm? Oh, sorry, I was distracted, never been to a city this big. Sure, seems interesting.”

Vin shouts at Moth up ahead. “Moth! C’mon! We get to go see a church! They even said they’ve got somewhere for us all to sleep!”

Moth: “I don’t want to sleep in there.”

Milo: “Oh, you’re not sleeping in the church!” he seems a bit shocked by the thought. “No, no. But we’ll pay for your stay at the inn and tavern nearby.”

Moth: “Do they sell drugs?”

Milo looks taken aback. “I… don’t know. I’ve never had occasion to ask…”

Moth: “Thanks buddy.

Milo nods. “Shall we go?”

Vin, nodding, grins and starts walking.

Milo clears his throat. “It’s this way.”

Astra follows slowly behind, quietly taking in the surroundings. She doesn’t see anything super-interesting, except for a few dogs in an alley, and a couple people kissing in another.

As Milo leads the party to the church, a bell begins to ring.

“Oh dear, we’ll be late,” he mutters, hurrying you to the chapel.

I say Chapel, but really that isn’t a great way of describing it, as your characters will realize when they enter.

The inside is a hundred feet high, with magnificent stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the legends and the Church Book. Statues of the Eight Immortals line the walls, four each side, with their holy symbols between.

There is smiling Silvanus, with his panpipes; silver-haired Hamaia, with her symbol of the cresting wave; the thief-god Daran, with his impish face depicted twice, once on the statue and once on his symbol; Ilane, the Lady of Life and Love, with her symbol of blue fire; silver-skinned Eilistraee, whose symbol is the silver dancer; Aoifionn with her rapier, and her symbol of a coin; Bold Brian, with his sword and his symbol of burning flame; and Eidon the quick, with his swirl of wind.

Pews fill the chapel, and the party is directed to the back, though Ixyldir is offered a seat near the middle, with other churchmen of his rank. He accepts.

*Moth is outside still, he wants to play with the dogs in the alleyway.*

They seem to take a liking to him. One of them definitely befriends him.

Near the front of the room is a young woman wearing a golden circlet. She has golden hair and pale skin, and wears a very royal-looking dress. Four very buff guards sit near her- two behind and one on either side. She’s obviously the queen.

The funeral begins, with a number of speakers you don’t know standing up and talking about what a fine fellow the dead guy was. A high-level priest quotes some scriptures, and then makes a ceremonial speech about the old high priest’s soul going swiftly to the heavens.

There’s a brief break, and then the same priest that spoke gestures for a man to come to the front of the room. The man is in churchman’s white, with a symbol of Ilane about his neck. He seems both excited and hesitant as the speaker begins to talk about what a pious man Salanner is, (that’s the guy’s name, apparently) and how good a high priest he’ll make.

The speaker gestures for an acolyte to bring the ceremonial oak-leaf laurel that denotes the high priest. Music begins to echo through the room as a whole bunch of priests cast low-level prestidigitation spells to create sound.

The acolyte moves slowly and reverently to the front of the room, stopping in front of Salanner.

Suddenly, Salanner doubles over with a grunt, scarlet staining his robes. The acolyte drops the wreath and holds up a bloody dagger. His features waver, revealing lank green hair, pointed ears, and silver eyes. The dagger begins glowing with a purplish, probably unholy light. He cackles wildly.

“To bring the darkness, it is time

And summon servants of Dark Queen Mine!”

He whirls toward a window and begins to run, apparently planning to break through.

Ixy leaps out of his seat, dodging a few panicking churchmen who are trying to go the other way, and vaults two pews. Unfortunately, he trips on the third, and the attacker crashes through the window.

Moth, seeing the commotion, hurls a javelin as the man hits the street. It hits the elf’s left arm, slicing a deep furrow before burying itself in a flowerbed. The madman grins wildly. “Gods didn’t bring her back, no, no; Dark Queen said yes, so go, go!” He whirls again and runs toward the slums, laughing.

Vin runs to Ixyldir and helps him up. “Are you alright? Are we gonna go after him?”

Moth *throws another javelin* Due to distance, the guy swerves and it clatters on the cobblestones.

Astra wraps her staff in the strap on her bag, tightens it, and breaks out in a full on sprint on all fours after the strange man the party is apprehending.

As the party chases him, a light rain begins to fall, and your surroundings get dirtier and grungier. The street sweeps don’t seem to come here much, and fewer and fewer buildings seem to be inhabited. The alleyways are getting a lot shadier.

He swerves down an alley, giving the party a you-can’t-catch-me grin.

As you pelt down after him, you reach a barrier of crates and barrels. He leaps up, then again, then jumps over the top of the stack.

Astra, still at a full sprint, leaps up to the wall in the alleyway where the barrels were, and begins running up the wall on all fours with her momentum, jumping up to the remaining upright barrels, then bolting up the barrels towards him as fast as she can.

Vin leaps from barrel, to crate, to other barrel, to other crate, until she’s standing on top of the wall. She then leaps down.